This is Paradise You Just Don't Realize It Yet
by Strawberry Cupcake
Summary: John and Teyla are stuck in a ship alone for two years trying to get home. Need I say more? Sheyla with some side pairings: McWeir, RononOC. Rating for later chapters. Warnings for some torture.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:Yes! I own them! I just got the adoption papers today! Oh wait, that's my english homework.

Summary: Teyla and John are stuck in a ship for two years without any other company trying to get home.Need I say more?Sheyla with some side pairings: McWeir, RononOC.

**This is Paradise. You Just Don't Realize It Yet.**

"I have known the Yugonians for as long as I can remember." Teyla stated. "I do not believe they will be any danger to us." Teyla, along with John, Rodney, Ronon, Carson and Lt. Cadman, sat around the briefing table trying to persuede Elizabeth to let them go to M4S-995, otherwise known as Yugonia, and suggest a trade.

"They are advanced." Teyla continued when Elizabeth didn't argue. "But they are wary about sharing their technology-"

"Aren't they all." Rodney interrupted with a snort. Elizabeth shot him a glare before turning back to Teyla and motioning for her to go on.

"As I was saying, it took us many seasons to finally convince them to trade with us. In fact our mastery over fire was learned from them. I believe in time they will be willing to trade their technology with Atlantis."

"How did they manage to not be wiped out by the Wraith?" Elizabeth asked.

"That I am unsure of." She answered. "However I believe it is a result of a cloaking device. It may be that the Wraith do not even know of their exsistance."

"In which case they may provide a sanctuary for us if the Wraith attack Atlantis again." Teyla nodded. Elizabeth turned to Carson. "You say there is a plant on this planet that may be of some use to us?"

"Yes." Carson said, folding his hands over the table top. "I have determined from the sample that SGA-2 accidentally brought back," He stole a quick glance at Lt. Cadman who rolled her eyes. "that it has some properties of the Wraith enzyme. Now I'm hoping that it will help us in perfecting the retro virus so that we may one day defeat the Wraith."

"And there's an interesting energy source coming from their city." Rodney added once Carson had finished.

Now Elizabeth turned to Laura. "From what you discovered while SGA-2 was on Yugonia, what can you tell me about the people?"

Laura sat back, remembering their visit to M4S-995. The long walk through the forrest, the city. Oh! The city was just as breath-taking as Atlantis. "Well, they were nice. Those we met were friendly but we didn't meet many. We mostly talked to the head counsel who were really reluctant to talk to us since we were just quote, "representatives." I think you're going to need to come with us to negotiate any sort of trade."

Elizabeth nodded. She looked around the table. Everyone was looking expectantly at her, waiting for her answer. She leaned her arms on the table with her fingers laced together dramatically. "Yes. SGA-1, you and Dr. Beckett will go with Lt. Cadman to M4S-995 since the other 3 members of SGA-2 are temporarily confined to the infirmary. And I guess I'm going too. We leave in four hours."

Ronon jumped up and all but ran out of the room to go see his nurse 'friend' in the infirmary.

Elizabeth stood up more leisurly than Ronon had. She pushed in her chair and walked out of the briefing room, expecting Rodney to follow her to her office. And sure enough, Rodney was at her arm in seconds.

Teyla and John lingered in the briefing room so they could interrogate Laura and Carson.

"Cadman," John grinned. "how exactly _did_ the rest of SGA-2 get injured?" Laura smiled.

_**Flashback**_

**_Major Lorne, Captain Kleinman, and Lieutenant Reed walked ahead of Laura through the forrest talking about typical guy stuff: sports, guns, and women. They always tried to stay away from the last topic for her sake, but sometimes they couldn't help themselves. And sometimes she couldn't help adding what the girls said about them at their weekly poker nights._**

**_Laura couldn't help but feel a little left out. She was the only woman on the team. She never had a chance to talk about girl stuff when she was offworld. Actually she usually could only do it at poker because she spent all her time working on the Daedalus or with Carson._**

**_Thinking of Carson made Laura's mind wander. She was so far into her daydream that she didn't notice when Major Lorne stopped to ask her a question and she ran into him._**

**_"Woah! Watch where you're going, Lieutenant." Laura was pulled out of her daydream._**

**_"I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?" She said, stepping back._**

**_"Never mind. Are you all right?" He said with concern._**

**_Laura smiled and nodded. "Yes. Just daydreaming." She said, her cheeks turning pink. Major Lorne chuckled._**

**_"Okay then. I'd like to get back to Atlantis sometime _before_ the Wraith decide they can coexsist peacefully with humans. So let's get a move on." It must have been the extra weight Major Lorne added, for as soon as he made it to where Kleinman and Reed stood, the leaf covered ground gave way and the three men fell into a six foot deep hole._**

**_Laura's heart almost stopped. She ran to the hole and dropped down on her stomach. Looking down, she saw all three men tangled together on top of a pretty thin, broken board. Laura couldn't stop a smile creeping onto her face when she realized they had fallen into a trap._**

_**End Flashback**_

John was almost doubled over in laughter and Teyla, although a little more poised, laughed with him. Carson chuckled, but since he had heard this story before, he didn't find it as funny.

Just when John was about to say something funny in reply, Rodney poked his head around the door of the briefing room. "Oh good. Colonel, you're still here. Come with me. I need you to test some ancient devices." John sighed and reluctantly started to walk around the table but was saved when Carson got a call on his radio.

_"Dr. Beckett?"_ The nurse, Gabby said.

Carson tapped his ear piece to turn it on. "Go ahead lass." He replied.

_"Ronon Dex is in here. And we're not quite sure what to do."_ Carson's brow furrowed with worry.

"Ronon?" John stopped and turned to look at Carson. "What happened?"

_"Well, Doctor, it appears he ah- tried to break his own arm."_

"WHAT!" Carson screamed. This piqued Rodney's intrest who had previously been impatiently waiting at the door.

_"Yes, Sir. Do you think you could come down here? And I suggest bringing Dr. Heightmeyer as well."_

"Yes of course lass. I'll be down in a minute." He turned off his radio and left the room without a word. Laura, John, Teyla, and Rodney followed him and bombarded him with questions all the way down to the infirmary.

"Is everything okay?" Laura asked with concern.

"What happened, Doc?" John asked also.

"It appears that Ronon attempted to break his arm."

"WHAT!" Four voices screamed at him simulteaneously.

"Yes." He turned to Laura. "Laura dear, would you mind getting Dr. Heightmeyer for me?" Laura nodded and ran off.

The group finally reached the infirmary where they saw Ronon sitting up in a bed, talking with Gabby who was sitting in the chair next to him.

John stalked over to the bed and let Ronon have it. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!" Gabby flushed while Ronon just stared at John with a smirk on his face.

"Nice to see you too Sheppard. My arm is just fine, thanks for asking. What have you been up to since I last saw you five minutes ago?" John looked like he was about to rip Ronon's head off.

"Well let's see: I walked from the briefing room to the infirmary. That's what I've been up to. And I'm glad you're arm is okay. BUT NOW I'M GOING TO BREAK YOUR OTHER ONE!" Carson saved Ronon from John's wrath by shooing him to the other side of the room.

"Let me check this arm out." Carson lifted the swollen arm in his hands and examined it. "Now what did you do? Twist it?"

"Actually I slammed a door on it." Ronon answered calmly. Carson glared at him.

"Alright." Carson turned to Gabby. "I don't think it's broken but Gabby, take Ronon to have his arm X-rayed just to be sure." Gabby happily helped Ronon to stand and walk into the next room where the X-ray machine was located. Once they were gone, Carson walked over to Teyla, Rodney and John. Teyla was looking concerned, Rodney looking astonished, and John just looking angry as hell.

"IS HE INSANE!" Rodney shouted. Everyone ignored him.

"What do you think caused him to attempt to break his arm?" Teyla asked with her head cocked to the side.

"Well, if you ask me," Carson grinned. "he is infatuated with Gabby and just wanted to spend some time with her." Rodney muttered something about Gabby falling in love with the incredible hulk.

Teyla smiled in response to Carson. "That appears to be the case." She said. John was now glowering at Teyla who seemed to be okay with this.

But before he could say anything to her, Laura entered the room, followed by Kate and Elizabeth.

"What's going on?" Elizabeth demanded.

"It appears Ronon has a crush on Gabby. One of my nurses." Carson replied.

Elizabeth looked incredulous. "And he had to break his arm for that _because_?"

"He just wanted to spend time with her, Dr. Weir." Teyla calmly argued.

"Where is he now?" Kated interjected before someone had a heart attack.

"I asked Gabby to get an X-ray of his arm." Carson said. "Actually they should have been done by now."

"I bet I could tell you what's taking them so long." Rodney muttered.

"Do you think he will still be able to go on the mission?" John asked, changing the subject.

"If his arm's not broken he should be okay to go." Carson looked doubtful. "But I would be afraid that he would try to hurt himself again while we're offworld. I suggest keeping him here at least overnight. And that way everyone's happy."

"Dr. Beckett?" A small voice said from behind him. Carson turned around to see Gabby holding a folder and looking flustered. Ronon was behind her, walking back to his bed. "Here are the X-ray pictures." Carson took the pictures out of the folder and hung them on the lighted screen.

"Well, there appears to be a few fractures on the bone, but those should heal rather quickly. Other than that, it's not broken." He turned to look at Ronon. "I'm going to put your arm in a cast while it heals. You should only need it for about a week." Carson walked over to the bed and gave Ronon his worst doctor-glare. "Now I do _not_ recommend you going offworld. There's too much of a chance that you will re-injure your arm. And I am going to keep you here overnight to make sure you don't do anything stupid with it." The look on Ronon's face was priceless. He was grinning from ear to ear. Gabby was grinning too but more subtly.

"Okay. Have fun on your mission!" Ronon called as everyone walked out of the infirmary, leaving Dr. Beckett to bandage his arm up.

"I don't think he will need to talk to me." Kate smiled. "He seems just fine."

"Ah yes. Young love is just so beautiful." Came Rodney's standard, cynical response.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Cheer up Rodney, I'm sure you'll find it someday." Rodney glared in reply.

"Colonel," Teyla called from behind them. John turned around. "It is time for our sparring lesson." She had stopped in front of the door to the gym.

"Oh yeah. I'll just go get ready and I'll meet you back here in five minutes?" Teyla nodded and they both went their separate ways to change into their sparring clothes.

Rodney, Elizabeth, and Laura continued walking. "Does anyone think that those two actually _spar _when they're sparring?" Rodney asked.

"I wonder about that too sometimes." Elizabeth smiled at Laura's response.

"Yes. It's a mystery. One of which that may never be solved." Elizabeth joked.

"It's so much of a mystery that it should be on Unsolved Mysteries." Laura added as they entered a transporter and disappeared to another section of the city.

K3

Teyla entered the gym wearing her skimpy sparring outfit. She stretched for a few minutes and then practiced with an imaginary parter with her tonfa sticks.

John came in a few minutes later.

"You're late." Teyla noted.

"You know me. I love to make an entrance." John replied.

"I know women from Earth take a long time to get ready, but I did not know the men do too." Teyla retorted. John pulled his pair of tonfa sticks from his bag and stood in front of her, ready to fight.

"Ha ha. Are you ready to lose this time?" He tried to hit her with one of his sticks but Teyla blocked his attack. He seemed to anticipate this and tried to hit her with his other stick but she was too fast and hit him first on his arm, knocking his stick out of his hand and allowing her to flip him over onto the mat.

"Colonel, the only time you have and ever will beat me was when Eliya infected you." John smiled, remembering the day.

"Yes. And I bet I could beat you again. You just won't give me the chance." He stood up and they began to fight again. John once again landed on his back.

"Colonel you have had many opportunities to practice. You just choose not to take them." Teyla helped him up and he was immediately knocked down again. "Now if you were to practice, then you might someday prove me wrong and win."

"Well I would if I wasn't so lazy." Teyla knocked him down several more times.

"Colonel I don't think any women would be impressed that you get beaten by a woman three times a week."

"The type of women I like don't care." He was yet again on the mat. "Okay. I need a break." Together they sat down on the bench by the window.

"Colonel, what do you think-" John held up his hand to stop her.

"Okay. Tey, every sentence that has come out of your mouth today has started with 'Colonel.' Please. Stop it. You can call me 'Colonel' if you want, but please don't say it everytime you talk to me. I _know_ you're talking to me. Now go on." He put his hand down and Teyla smiled and continued.

"I think that was sweet what Ronon did so he could be with Gabby." John took a drink from his water bottle.

"I think it was stupid." Teyla looked at him incredulously.

"Would you not do something similar to be with the woman you love?"

"Well I wouldn't go around slamming doors on my arm if that's what you mean." Teyla sighed.

"What I mean is: Would you not do something special to show the woman you love how much you want to be with her? Would you be willing to break your arm to show her you care?" John picked at a loose string on his shirt.

"You know I would do anything for anyone." He said, purposely avoiding the question.

"That's not what I meant." Teyla said in exasperation. John lifted his head and looked her straight in the eye.

"I guess I haven't met the right woman yet."

"I see." Teyla said, looking away. John looked down at his watch.

"We've been here for quite awhile. I'm going to get ready for our mission. I'll see you later 'kay?" Teyla nodded and watched him pack up. She sat on the bench for a couple minutes after he left then finally got up and left herself.

K3

In the gate room, John, Teyla, Rodney, Elizabeth, Carson, and Laura all stood at the base of the Stargate watching as the inner ring spun around and around. The wormhole swooshed open and the team stepped through, unaware of what would soon happen.

K3

A/N- Just a starter chappie. Let me know what you think.

And please help me:

Which part should be longer: When John and Teyla are on the ship or afterwards? I havelots of ideas for this but I just don't know which part I should make the longest.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N- Thanks to all my readers and reviewers! Hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 2

The trip to The City went by rather quickly with the help of Laura's guide. A village was situated near the Stargate to take visitors to the city. Every month, a group of people from The City brought supplies out to The Village. Food, clothes, medicine, etc.

The man who had guided SGA-2 before, Zalik, eagerly dropped what he was doing in The Village and rushed over to greet Laura.

"Laura! You've returned!." Zalik enveloped her in a big hug and she returned it comfortably. He appeared to be in his late sixties, early seventies and had almost no hair. His clothing didn't match those of a villager's. His shirt was black with a silver stripe across his chest and his pant were silver with black stripes going down the sides of his legs. He let Laura go and smiled. "I hope the rest of your team is going to be okay. I sincerely apologize for the trap out in The Forrest. We have not hunted for so long, it was forgotten about."

"Yes. They're going to be okay, Zalik. In fact they didn't even need to stay in the infirmary for more than two hours. So I assume they will recover rather quickly."

"That's good. And who are these people? More friends of yours?" He smiled warmly at them.

John waved at Zalik. "Hi." He said.

"Zalik this is Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay, Teyla, Dr. Weir, and Dr. Beckett." She introduced them. "Everyone, this is Zalik. Our tour guide." Zalik took great care to make sure he shook each person's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. Laura's a great girl. You are lucky to have such a talkative woman in your midst." Laura blushed at the compliment.

"Yes we are." Carson agreed, smiling affectionately at Laura.

"Well let's not waste anymore time. I know you all didn't come here to listen to an old man talk. So let me take you to The City so you can do what you came here to do."

K3

"Laura, you go with McKay and Carson so they can do their stuff." John ordered. "Radio us when you're done." Laura almost had to drag the two doctors away when The City came into view. It was as, possibly even more breathtaking than Atlantis.

The Forrest surrounded a wall that protected The City. Every hundred yards of so, there was an opening. When the group had reached one of the openings, John was about to step through when Zalik stopped him.

"You can NOT pass through to The City without proper identification. If you were to, you would be transported to a holding cell until you were properly identified. That is why The Village is situated so close to the Stargate. So we may escort visitors in without any altercations."

Zalik tapped a panel next to the opening that looked similar to Atlantis', however, there were some considerable differences. Like the fact that it was circular with a latch at the top.

"Please enter your identification code." A mechanical voice came out of nowhere. Zalik turned the panel so the latch was at the bottom of the circle and let go. A light inside the panel blinked twice and Zalik lifted the latch. The Panel opened to reveal a series of unidentified buttons. Zalik pressed a few, it seemed, at random.

"Thank you." The mechanical voice said again. "Villager Zalik, are there anymore Villagers or Residents accompaning you?" Zalik pressed a button on The Panel. "No other Villagers or Residents. Villager Zalik, please move aside to allow The City to scan for Visitors." Zalik stepped out of the way and a bright, white light came out of the top of The Panel and briefly stopped on each of the three people.

"Scanning, three humans. Please standby for implantation." John, Elizabeth, and Teyla became alarmed.

"Implantation!" Elizabeth shouted. John was about to jump out of the way when three beams shot out of The Panel and landed on each persons' arm.

"What the hell was that!" John glared at Zalik while rolling up his sleeve to look at his arm. Behind him, Teyla and Elizabeth were doing the same thing. Teyla ran her hand over where the beam had hit her. She hadn't felt anything and there was no mark.

"That was only to allow you to enter The City whenever you please. You will not need someone from The Village to take you to The City now." Zalik explained.

"Visitors, please enter your name into The Panel and hit 'ENTER'. You will recieve your identification code in return." The mechanical voice said yet again. John stepped up to The Panel first.

"How do I put my name in?" As if it had read his mind, The Panel dissolved into the wall and a new one appeared in its place. This new panel was square and ressembled a keyboard from Earth computers. John quickly punched in his name and rank and hit the 'ENTER' button. The new panel dissolved into the wall like the previous one had and a card the size of a business card appeared. John pulled it out of the mechanical claw that was clutching it.

"Visitor Lt. Col. John Sheppard, please enter your identification code into the panel." The circular panel appeared once more and John saw numbers appear on the buttons that he swore were not there when Zalik entered his I.D. code.

On the card, seventeen numbers were printed in a row and John entered them in one at a time.

"Thank you Visitor Lt. Col. John Sheppard. Visitor number two please enter your name." The process was repeated with Teyla and Elizabeth.

"Welcome Villager Zalik, Visitor Lt. Col. John Sheppard, Visitor Dr. Elizabeth Weir, and Visitor Teyla Emmagen to The City. Plese step through the opening. And a reminder to the Visitors: Your identification codes are imperative. Be sure you know it before you attempt any entry into The City. Your identification codes printed on the cards can be seen by you only. Do not give your identification codes to anyone. However if someone attempted to enter The City with an identification code that did not match their implant, they would be transported to the holding cells for questioning. Thank you and enjoy your stay in The City." The Panel rotated back to its original position and Zalik ushered John, Teyla, and Elizabeth through the opening.

As they stepped through, their weapons disappeared.

"Don't worry." Zalik quickly explained at John's glare. "Your weapons are being stored in The City's armory. When you leave through The Opening again, they will be returned to you."

"Lotta work just to get into a city." John commented.

"The first time it is." Zalik agreed.

Teyla looked around at The City. It was beautiful and appeared to be made of crystal. "Where are the people?" She asked noticing no one was around.

"They are inside The Room. There must be a meeting." Zalik answered and proceeded to lead them further inside The City.

"Do the Villagers not get to participate in making decisions for The City?" Teyla asked, hoping they would not find the same situation as they had with the Tower.

"None of the decions affect The Village. If there were any meetings that concerned The Village, we would be notified about the problem and we would vote on what should be done."

"So if the problem affects The Village only, the residents of The City do not vote, and if the problem affects The City only, the residents of The Village do not vote?" Zalik nodded.

"That is correct."

"And if the problem affects both The City and The Village, everyone votes?"

"Precisely." By then they had arrived at what was known as The Room. It was not unlike the rest of The City. It appeared to be made of crystal, yet you could not see through it.

"Zalik," Elizabeth asked. "What is The City made of?" They had stopped and sat down on the steps that led up to The Room, waiting for the meeting to be over.

"It is made of pure crystal. However there is a protective film on the inside that can be programmed to not allow anyone to see through to the inside. There is also a protective film on the outside to keep the sun from reflecting off of it. If the outside film was not there, we all would be blind from the brightness. But at night, the outside film dissolves into the crystal and The City shines as if it is on fire. It is a brilliant site from The Village. In all my life I have never seen it from The City. I plan to do that sometime before I die. But I still have a lot of time before me so I won't need to rush it." Zalik smiled, thinking about what The City would look like.

"How old are you exactly?" John asked wondering how Zalik could possibly have a lot more time before him when he looked like he was going to die in a couple of years.

"I am four hundred and twenty-two years old." Their eyes opened wide at this little bit of information.

"And how long do your people usually live?" Teyla questioned further after a shocked pause.

"All human life expires at five hundred years. Why? How long do humans usually live where you come from?"

"They only live for about eighty years. Some don't even live that long." Now it was Zalik's turn to be shocked. Elizabeth nodded her head at his questioning look.

"That how long life used to be two thousand years ago. Before The Drug." Before they could question Zalik further, The Room's crystal doors opened up and hundreds of people came out. As they passed, most of the people nodded to or greeted Zalik, John, Teyla, and Elizabeth.

When every person had exited The Room, Zalik jumped up and escorted the others inside, before leaving them alone with assurances that someone would be in soon.

Not long after that, twelve people entered. Six men and six women. The women were all dressed in black dresses and the men were all dressed in silver.

A table rose from the floor in the middle of the room and one of the women, the oldest one, it seemed, gestured for them to take a seat in the chairs that rose with the table. After all fifteen people were seated, introductions were made.

"I am Kalenn, Supreme Ruler of The City." The oldest woman began. She nodded to the man sitting next to her, he seemed to be the oldest of the men. "This is my husband, Ane, Second Ruler and Advisor. This is Remyt, Sofime, Borscht, Henna, Jof, Ophesia, Beryllo, Cadace, Theemakt, and Ixine." Each person nodded as their name was announced. "They are The Council in charge of enforcing laws, protecting The City, The Village, and The Residents and The Villagers. I approve all decicions made by The Council, oversee all punishment to ensure it is justly deserved, and approve all trade and treaties. The Council may override me when three-fourths agree. Ane, as you can guess, advises me and will take over my job when I am unable until a suitable replacement is found."

"Quite an introduction." John quipped. Kalenn smiled at him.

"Yes. I suppose it is." She agreed.

"My name is Colonel Sheppard. I am the Commanding Military Officer, this is Teyla Emmagen, leader of the Athosians and our... Advisor, and this is Dr. Weir, our leader." Elizabeth smiled at The Council.

"Hello." She politely greeted.

"Hello, Dr. Weir, Colonel Sheppard, Teyla Emmagen." Kalenn said. "I suppose you are here to propose a trade."

"Yes." Elizabeth replied.

"Before we start the negotiations, I would be honored to show you around The City. The Council has just been through three meetings consecutively and I am sure they would enjoy a break." Kalenn offered.

"That would be wonderful." Elizabeth agreed. The Council and Ane stood up and filed out of The Room. Kalenn stood and followed The Council out with John, Teyla, and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth walked with Kalenn while John and Teyla walked behind them.

"Why did you have to get that implant-thingie?" John asked Teyla as they walked through a sort of park without the grass and playground. "I thought you had been here before."

"I have. The Yugonians did not have that technology the last time I was here. Although the last time I was here was ten years ago. They did not tell me about The Drug before either."

"Why haven't you visited them for ten years?"

"My people became jealous of the Yugonians because we were frequently experiencing cullings and they refused to offer us sanctuary so we refused to go back there. However I believe this boycott was in vain. We could have traded for weapons to fight the Wraith. So much has changed since I was here last. Not once since we arrived here, has anyone spoken the name of the planet or call themselves Yugonians. It is The Village and The City. Villagers and Residents." John could see the confusion etched in her face.

"Yeah. What is The City's real name anyway?"

"It is extremely long. I have forgotten it over the years." Ahead of them, Elizabeth was having similar thoughts.

"Kalenn, what is the name of The City? I mean, everything is so distinct. The City, The Village, The Forrest, The Room. Don't they have real names?" Kalenn smiled.

"It is a superstition among the people, the Yugonians, that if we call anything by its name given by our ancestors, the Wraith will come. Just a few years ago, the Wraith found a way onto the planet. We managed to destroy them, however we lost a few lives. We stopped calling everything by its name and the Wraith stopped coming. I think it is stupid. But when you are surrounded with people calling it The City, you get into the habit. Also The City's name is too long and confusing for most people."

"Oh I see. But what _is_ The City's name?" Elizabeth asked again.

"It is Agliamarethamaryllisbasiliaclianthacallicelosiaberylaspasiolesiarianedara." Elizabeth almost stopped, it was so confusing.

"Wow." Kalenn chuckeled.

"It is made up from thirteen words: Aglaia, Amara, Areth, Amaryllis, Basilia, Cliantha, Calli, Celosia, Beryl, Aspasia, Olesia, Ariane, and Adara."

"That sounds a lot like Greek. I believe they mean brilliance, unfading, beauty, sparkle, regal, glory, born, burn, crystal, welcome, defense of mankind, holy, and fire."

"Impressive. Yes, although the name directly translates to: The Brilliance of the Unfading Beauty Sparkling in All its Regal Glory Born of Burning Crystal that Welcomes and Protects All Mankind With the Holy Fire."

"I can see why you started calling it The City." Elizabeth smiled as they continued walking.

"The Village's name is: Olesiadara, or Protector of Beauty." Kalenn continued. She glanced back at John and Teyla. "Should we wait for them?"

Elizabeth looked back and smirked. John was laughing at something Teyla had said. They were enjoying the view of The City but to Elizabeth it looked like they were enjoying each other's company more.

"I think they're just fine."

K3

The negotiations were going quite well, now that Kalenn knew that they were from Atlantis. She was more open to the idea of trading with those who were familiar with a higher level of technology.

So far the negotiations had lasted four hours. They were on their second break when Rodney radioed.

"What took you so long?" John groaned into his earpiece. "I've sat through four hours of negotiations while you three were having fun looking for buried treasure."

_"Sorry Colonel. We took so long because... lets just say Carson can't contain himself."_ John smirked.

"What's the matter McKay? Did Carson and Laura start making out in front of you and you couldn't handle it?" He could hear Rodney's disgusted snort.

_"No. If you must know, Carson just had to go off the path to find this plant of his because we only found a few samples and he wanted to see if there was anymore. Well we found some more but we got lost. But I'm sorry we couldn't find that energy signature. It's buried under this huge rock. Mountain is actually more appropriate. Anyway, my strength only goes so far. Lifting up a mountain is pushing it a little."_ John smirked.

"Just a little huh? Just get back here as soon as you can. I'm not sitting through another four hours of negotiations unless you have to suffer too." Before Rodney could complain, John turned his radio off.

Teyla was sitting on the steps outside of The Room talking to Elizabeth. It seemed like the steps were the only place to sit outside. John walked over and was about to sit down when Kalenn approached with two of The Council.

"Dr. Weir, Teyla, Colonel Sheppard, I have an interesting opportunity for you." She nodded to the two members of The Council who had both changed into white jump suits. "Remyt and Cadace are going to take The Ship, Terentia, to another planet not far from here to deliver some supplies. Would you like to accompany them? You will be able to meet one of our allies. They also have an impressive city you may wish to see." John and Teyla agreed to it immediately. However Elizabeth refused.

"I'm sorry. You two go ahead. But I should really stay and check in on Atlantis. But thank you very much for the offer." Kalenn nodded in understanding.

K3

"They sure nod alot here." John whispered to Teyla as they followed Remyt and Cadace through The City to the very back where very few people were.

Teyla smiled at his comment. "It is their way."

They had arrived at a very large building. Cadace pushed a few buttons on the panel next to the door and gave her ID. The doors slid open and John and Teyla got their first glimpse of what would cause them so much pain in the near future.

A/N- Next chapter will be up soon. But I may updat emy other story first. It depends what kind of mood my sunburned plot bunnies are in.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N- This chapter is dedicated to my friend Tori because I just found out she watches Stargate and Stargate Atlantis without me having to convert her! I would just like to say thank you Tori for being the only one of my friends who liked Stargate before you met me! And PLEASE register with ffnet! It's so much more fun than being an anon reader!

Chapter 3

"It will only take about twenty minutes to arrive on Acantha." Cadace said, leading John and Teyla to the bridge.

Remyt was seated at the control panel. The engines were starting up and John could feel the hum as they came on to full power.

"You know I noticed there's not a crew. There's no one. Just you two." John pointed out. Remyt nodded from the control chair as the roof of the builing the ship was in retracted and the ship lifted off the ground.

"Yes. We are trained to handle any problem that arrises without a mass of people. Those who would be here are being more productive on the planet." Remyt explained.

"Oh. I see." John took a seat next to Teyla who was sitting on a sort of bench behind Cadace's passenger seat. "Big ship." He added.

"It is." Cadace said. "There is enough room to fit one thousand people and enough food in storage for that many for one year. There are also enough living quarters for five hundred people, not not including the family quarters." John let out a low whistle.

"Our ship can't do that." He sulked back in his seat, then turned to Teyla. "Do you think we could build a bigger ship? I don't like it when other people have bigger and better stuff than we do." Teyla's response to that was to roll her eyes while Remyt and Cadace smirked.

K3

"Atlantis this is Weir." Elizabeth had run into Rodney, Carson, and Laura on her way back to the stargate and decided to drag them along.

_"Good to hear your voice Dr. Weir."_ The tech on duty said over the radio.

His comment unnerved Elizabeth. What could they possibly have gotten into in the five hours she'd been absent? "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

_"Well... You know how you left Sergeant Bates in charge? And how he distrusts the Athosians?"_

"Yes I'm well aware of the fact." Elizabeth's heart raced. The Athosians had been their most loyal allies and traded much needed food with Atlantis. "My God. If Bates did anything to destroy our friendship with the Athosians..." She trailed off, letting the threat hang in the air.

Behind Elizabeth, Rodney, Carson, and Laura were silently making bets on what happened with Bates.

_"He didn't destroy it _persay_. It's actually more like he strengthened it. It's quite funny actually. You see, he offended one of the Athosian women who were here. And since Teyla wasn't here to explain what it meant and you weren't here to explain to the Athosians what _he_ had meant..."_

"Okay just tell me what happened before I die from a anxiety attack!" Elizabeth's patience was wearing thin. She was already thinking of humiliating ways to punish Bates. Which of course made her feel a little bit better.

_"They got married."_ Four jaws simultaneously hit the ground. _"She dragged him off to the mainland for the honeymoon and that was about an hour ago. Since then it's been chaos. There's no one in charge here so everyone is just kinda doing whatever they want. We almost had an explosion in one of the labs because Kavanaugh couldn't wait for you to get back to get permission for an experiment."_

"Okay lower the shield. I'm coming back." She turned to her three companions who were in hysterics behind her. They calmed down immediately at her glare which she seemed to be using so much lately. "Tell Kalenn and the council I will be back shortly. I just have to straighten this out and I'll be right back." And with that she stepped through the gate without even waiting for their response.

As soon as the wormhole disengaged, they were overcome with laughter again.

K3

They had been on Acantha for no more than ten minutes before they were ready to leave again. John and Teyla were able to talk to a representative of Acantha (the President was unavailable) with promises from the Remyt and Cadace that the Yugonians would inform Atlantis the next time they were going to visit Acantha so the Atlantians could propose a trade with the Acanthans.

They were about five minutes out when things started to go wrong.

Remyt was watching the holographic 'map' when something started flashing in red.

"Cadace, the hyperdrive crystal appears to be malfunctioning again. Will you go check it to see if it was knocked loose? I'll drop out of hyperspace just in case." Cadace stood up and walked out of the room to check it out.

"What's going on?" All of John's senses were on alert.

"It is nothing. The hyperdrive crystal comes loose occasionally and the new one wasn't ready yet so we used the old one. It is nothing to be alarmed at. This has happened before." Remyt assured him.

"And what if it's not just nothing? How long will it take to get back to Yugonia without the hyperdrive?" John pressed further.

"It would take us two years to get back without the hyperdrive. But we would radio Acantha and they would send their ship to help us." He explained.

"What happens if you can't radio Acantha?"

"Then we would fly the ship home without the hyperdrive."

"Why couldn't you radio Yugonia and have _them_ send a ship to help you?"

"If we were unable to radio Acantha, it is doubtful the radio would work with Yugonia. Besides, this is our only ship."

"But if you were closer to Acantha why couldn't you fly back there and then gate home?" John's voice was really starting to grate on Remyt's nerves.

"Acantha does not have a Stargate. Why do you think we fly there to trade?"

"Right. But they _do_ have a ship."

"True. So if we were closer to Acantha we would fly back."

"Okay but what if you flew halfway and the hyperdrive failed and the radio wasn't working? Would you fly to Acantha or would you just go home?" Remyt was getting ready to slam his head into a wall.

"That would depend if we were going home or going to Acantha. What's with all the questions anyway? Is he always like this?" Remyt asked Teyla.

Teyla couldn't sypathize with him because he had not seen the full ammount of one Lt. Col. John Sheppard's annoying capabilities.

"Hmm. Cadace should have been back by now. I'm going to go see if she needs any help. I'll be right back." Remyt breezed out of the room the way Cadace had done, leaving John and Teyla alone.

"Why must you always feel the necessity to get on people's nerves?" Teyla was fighting the urge to smack him upside his head.

"What?" John gave her his best I-Have-No-Idea-What's-Going-On-I'm-Innocent looks before hopping in the pilot's seat.

"Colonel I do not think that is wise." Teyla warned.

"Relax Tey. I'm just checking out the controls." And he proceeded to poke through everything for the next ten minutes.

"Something is wrong." Teyla stood up and started to walk out when John called her back.

"Wait. Tey I'm sure it's nothing. They're probably just having a little trouble. They'll be back. Don't worry."

"Colonel they should have been back five minutes ago at least to inform us on what is going on. Now something is wrong and I'm going to check it out." Nothing could stop her so John joined her.

"Do you even know where you're going?" He asked as he caught up with Teyla.

"Cadace told me there are maps aboard the ship to direct people." Soon she had led him to hallway that had a 3-dimmentional, holographic map of the interior of the ship.

"This is where the hyperdrive crystal is located." Teyla said, pointing to a room on the map after much scrutiny.

The trek to the crystal room was long but it was lucky they had left when they had or John and Teyla would have been in some serious trouble.

Teyla gasped as she entered the room. Cadace was lying on the floor off to the side with her long blonde hair going in all directions. Teyla rushed over to help her while John looked around. He noticed a pool of blood right next to the power station with all the crystals. The way the blood dragged from the pool to where Cadace lay made it obvious that she had been dragged away from the power station after she had fallen.

"She's dead." Teyla said. By the look on her face, John could tell she was scared. "Where is Remyt?" John looked around and noticed a blood trail leading out of the room.

He left Teyla with Cadace and followed it. He ran and found Remyt crawling to try to reach the bridge.

"Remyt!" He called. Remyt looked back and upon seeing John, collapsed. Blood was running down his face from a deep cut on his forehead. John rushed to his side. "What happened?" Remyt gasped for the breath to answer him.

"The (gasp) the hyper drive crystal is (gasp) damaged. Cadace pulled (gasp) pulled it out and shocked herself. If that didn't (gasp) didn't kill her, the fall (gasp) did. I (gasp) tried to fix the damage but (gasp) I (gasp) I damaged another crystal. The crystal for navigation and (gasp) weapons and the communications. I'm sorry."

"How did you get hurt?" John asked while checking his pulse.

"I (gasp) was electricuted as well. When I fell I hit my head on (gasp) the side of the power station. I'm not going to make it." John looked up at him in shock.

"Sure you will. We'll fix you right up and you'll be as good as new." Remyt saw through the lie immediately.

"You don't have the tools nor the training. The electricity dramatically weakened my (gasp) heart. I just have to tell you before I go, the passcode to access the ship's controls (gasp) is 4100695238. I managed to set the ship to (gasp) fly back to Yugonia automatically. I am truly sorry (gasp) for (gasp) all of (gasp) this." And with that he died.

Teyla came running down the hall looking for John and Remyt. She hadn't seen the blood as quickly as John had and therefore had taken longer to find them. She arrived just as John stood up and was about to go find her.

"Tey, we have a problem." Teyla nodded when she saw Remyt lying there and not moving.

"Indeed we do."

Reviews are much appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- Sorry this took me so long to update. After midterms my teachers bombarded me with homework so I had no time to write!

Chapter 4

"We'll have to get rid of the bodies. Clean up the blood. Otherwise it's going to smell. Maybe there's a morgue where we can put them." John said solemnly. Teyla watched him intently as he covered Remyt's body with his own jacket. He walked away wordlessly and Teyla had no choice but to follow him so she wouldn't have to be alone with the dead body. Having to stay with Cadace had been bad enough.

John didn't stop until he had reached the bridge. Much to Teyla's chagrin, he sat down in the pilot's seat and started to poke around again.

"Colonel what are you doing?" John could tell from her tone of voice that she was tired and clearly irritated with him.

"Remyt gave me an access code to work the ship. I want to get it in before I forget." He answered coolly. He punched a bunch of buttons until a screen came up and asked for a password. He typed in 4100695238 and it allowed him to read everything in english. Until then, it had all been in gibberish.

"Now we're getting somewhere." John muttered under his breath. He read through a few pages of it and realized something important. "Tey we don't have weapons online. It was damaged when Remyt tried to fix the hyperdrive crystal. If the Wraith attack us..." He let the thought hang in the air.

"Then we will likely die or be captured." Teyla finished for him.

"_If_ we run into them." John added hopefully.

"One could only hope to be so fortunate." Came her terse reply.

John was getting irritated and decided to try to fix the crystal before he went insane trying to read through two hundred pages of instructions to something he didn't want to know about.

"I'm going to see if I can fix the crystals. You wanna come with or stay here and read this thing?" He left before Teyla could answer so she decided to stay rather than try to catch up with him. _'Since he wants to be like that...'_ She thought bitterly.

K3

John had no idea how to open the power station. There were no buttons or panels or anything. Something told him to run his fingers along the side. He did, and a 'drawer' opened in the front. Multi-colored crystals were aligned inside. Two, a blue and a clear one, weren't standing in the slots like the rest were. They were both just laying on their sides between the others.

John picked them up in his hands. The blue crystal was chipped and the color was dull. He assumed that was the hyperdrive crystal. Other than those two faults on the crystal, it looked fine.

On the other hand, the clear crystal had a black streak going straight through the middle. Half of it was totally broken off. John looked around and saw the other half lying near his feet, shattered in a million pieces. _'Great.' _He thought. There was no way he could fix it. "I wish McKay was here." He muttered to himself.

Carefully, John slipped the hyperdrive crystal in the slot that had a blue light eminating from it. The power station hummed as he put the clear, broken crystal in the remaining slot. _'That'll have to do.'_ He thought.

K3

Teyla was sitting in the pilot's chair, huffily reading the text when John came back. She silently moved to the passenger seat so he could sit down and fix the ship. She just hoped he didn't end up getting them blown up in the process.

"Okay. This reading says that the hyperdrive crystal is inoperable, but it says the other crystal is not activated." An uneasy feeling was growing inside John's stomach.

Teyla absently pulled at her hair. "But you put it back in?" It was more of a statement rather than a question.

"Yeah. But half of it had been broken off. I thought it would still work."

"May I see it?" John lifted one eyebrow as he turned to look at her.

"You want to look at it?" Offense and shock was reflected in Teyla's face at the way John was looking degradingly at her.

"Yes I wish to look at it. Perhaps I can fix it." She said defiantly. John stood up and Teyla followed him down to the power room. She tried not to look at Cadace as she entered the room. But Teyla found it impossible as her eyes were drawn to look at the poor woman's face. It wasn't shock, as Teyla would have imagined, but fear that was etched into the lines on Cadace's face. She noticed this for the first time and immediately tore her gaze away to where John was opening the power station.

"Thank you." Teyla said curtly before removing the clear crystal and examining it. It seemed like forever to John before Teyla finally looked up.

"Perhaps the crystal must be conected to both the bottom _and_ top of this drawer."

"Okay and how are we supposed to do that?" John asked. He was getting annoyed. Teyla looked around for something to use. She spotted a trunk in the corner of the room and, careful to walk around Cadace, went over to it. Unfortunately it had a huge padlock keeping her from getting to what was inside.

"I need to open this trunk." Teyla announced, completely ignoring John's question.

"Why?" John demanded while stepping closer to see the padlock.

John's question had taken Teyla aback. Why _did_ she want to open it? She didn't know. It was like a strange intuition. She felt like she _needed_ to open it for some unknown reason. "I do not know." She answered honestly.

"Well if you hadn't noticed, I left my skeleton key back on Atlantis." His sarcasm and bitterness was starting to grate on Teyla's nerves. Not that she knew what a skeleton key was, Teyla understood what he meant and somehow knew how to open the trunk.

"There is a key in Cadace's pocket." Teyla moved over to where Cadace was still lying and knelt down next to her. She briefly hesitated and her hand hovered over Cadace before she mentally shook herself and pulled a key ring with about twelve keys on it from her pocket.

"How did you know that was there?" John asked incredulously. Teyla only had to look up at him and he knew right away that she didn't know.

After testing almost every key, Teyla finally found the one that fit the padlock. She pulled it off and tossed it to the side before lifting the lid and smiling to herself. _'Just what I need.'_

K3

"Where are John and Teyla?" Elizabeth asked as she walked back into The Room and found Kalenn talking with Ane and Ophesia and that John and Teyla hadn't returned yet. Kalenn quickly excused herself from the two members of The Council and walked over to talk to Elizabeth.

"They have not returned yet." She didn't seem upset or agitated at all that Elizabeth had just interrupted her conversation. In fact she seemed happy.

"But it's been over an hour since I returned from Earth. And I've been gone for almost forty minutes. Doesn't it bother you that they haven't returned yet? They should have been back before I was."

"No. Sometimes it takes longer than the normal thirty minutes to trade with Acantha. They are not the most organized of people." Elizabeth let a small smile escape onto her lips. She definately had had experience with people like that.

"But they have been gone for almost two hours. I'm just worried." Kalenn looked into Elizabeth's eyes guiltily.

"I should have told you this earlier. Before they left. But I didn't want you to worry." Elizabeth squirmed. This didn't sound good.

"Tell me what?"

Kalenn took a deep breath. "The hyperdrive crystal on our ship is damaged. It is still well enough to operate, however we have been having problems with it. Our new one wasn't ready yet and I believed that the crystal would last long enough to get them to Acantha and back. I sincerely hope that this is not the case and that they are just late. But even if something happens to the crystal, Remyt and Cadace would radio Acantha and they would send a ship to rescue them. But if the hyperdrive crystal malfunctions and they are unable to radio Acantha for whatever reason..." Kalenn paused. "It would take them two years to return home. I am sorry I didn't tell you before."

Elizabeth nodded. Mostly in shock. "I would have appreciated you telling me the risks before I agreed to let John and Teyla go." A hint of betrayal weaved itself into her voice.

"If they do not return within the next half hour, I will contact Acantha and request they send their ship to search for ours." Elizabeth wasn't the least bit reassured but she didn't let Kalenn know that and left praying that John and Teyla would be able to get home.

K3

Teyla twisted the thin piece of metal wire around the crystal. The loose ends were brought together and pulled above the crystal. She then inserted the crystal in its slot and the power station hummed as the ends of the wire touched the top of the 'drawer.'

"Let's see if it will work now." Teyla said, closing the power station and leading the way back to the bridge.

John sat down and read the screen. "The crystal is working but we only have weapons, shield, and long range sensors back online. The radio must have been destroyed."

"At least we are safe from any Wraith attack." said Teyla.

"Yeah." John said in a faraway voice. "But we can't get home. At least not for two years." Teyla revelled in this thought and leaned back into her chair, trying to hold onto the one good thought they had: They were safe. For now.

A/N- Don't forget to review!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- This one's like a filler chapter, I think. Kinda romancy. Hope you like it!

Chapter 5

The next few days passed by uneventfully. John and Teyla had found some sort of morgue or hospital that was cold enough for Remyt and Cadace's bodies, they had gotten the blood cleaned up, found where the food was stored, and found living quarters and spare clothes.

The two, whom had been such good friends just days ago, found themselves speaking only to each other when it was necessary for either to talk. Which really wasn't ever since they each stayed to themself and only saw each other at lunch and dinner. Teyla tried once to strike up a conversation while they were eating.

"These vegetables are delicious. One wouldn't be able to guess that they were frozen." To which John merely nodded. After that Teyla tried no more. Nor did John put forth any effort to talk.

Day by day, for over a month, their routine did not falter. They never ate breakfast together because they each got up at different times. Teyla liked to get up a little early to exercise in the gym she had found and John, while he didn't get up late, he just didn't want to get up as early as Teyla did, would come down to find a neat and tidy kitchen. It almost looked as if Teyla had never been there except for her leftover pancakes or toast or whatever she had decided to eat that day sitting out on the table in case he had wanted to eat the same thing.

After breakfast, while Teyla exercised, John, who had found a sort of manual with all the ship's codes, would spend his time memorizing how to use the weapons and radio (Even though it didn't work he still wanted to know how to use it.) and all the other functions the ship had.

Lunch was eaten 'on-the-go.' Somehow, everyday, both John and Teyla met at the exact same time in the kitchen to get lunch. As always they never said anything while looking for something quick and easy and that didn't require a lot of cooking for lunch. They looked at each other when they first met and when they left, their greetings and good-byes only spoken through their eyes. Which, if they did speak, would probably go something like this:

John: Lovely day isn't it Teyla?

Teyla: Beautiful. Now stop talking to me.

John: I was just trying to be polite.

Teyla: Just like you try to be polite every time _I_ say something?

John: Fine. Be like that.

Teyla: Fine. I will.

And:

John: See you at dinner.

Teyla (sarcastically): I can't wait.

At dinner, which was similar to lunch in that they both somehow managed to find themselves there at the same time, they tried extra hard to not look at each other. But they worked as a team and if something needed stirring or something and Teyla was doing something else, she didn't need to say anything for John to do it and vice versa. And then they sat down at the table, concentrated solely on their food, and didn't even look up until they were done. Then they would both clean up and go back to whatever they were doing.

Well, after a month you can bet they got pretty bored with their routine. It seemed like all Teyla did was eat, sleep, and exercise. The majority consisting of the exercise. And John only ate, slept, and worked on the ship.

So one day, after dinner, they mutually decided to explore the ship. They had only ever been to their quarters, the kitchen, the bridge, and the gym.

They walked down the halls side by side, opening doors as they came across them. So far they had found a laundry room, a science lab, a lounge, and what they assumed was a ballroom because of the wooden floor, the mirrors and the ornate decorations.

The last room they found left them both wided-eyed with excitement. A library. A huge library with bookshelves on every section of the wall that reached all the way to the ceiling plus the shelves that stood in the middle of the room with thousands of books.

A lot of the books were historical, but there were fiction, romance, mythological, biographies, autobiographies, fantasy, horror, humor, reference, religious, science fiction, mystery... The books were set up in sections and it didn't take long for John and Teyla to memorize where each section was.

After finding the library, their routines were forever changed. John and Teyla no longer got up at different times. Instead they got up at the same time and ate breakfast together. Teyla still exercised after breakfast and John still worked on the ship, but after lunch, which was no longer rushed and seperate, they would go to the library together.

There was a mini-lounge within the library consisting of a sofa, three plushy armchairs, a coffee table, five end tables, and five lamps, one on each of the end tables. This sitting area was situated right next to the door and it was there where John spent his time reading.

John wasn't really a big reader. In fact he hardly read at all. But these books were so interesting, coming from another planet, that John became so immersed in reading them. He had read some of the historical books but found them dull and boring. Kind of like the history books on Earth. He preferred the fiction and science fiction ones. It was funny reading what what aliens considered science fiction.

Teyla, on the other hand, loved reading. The Atlantians hadn't brought very many books with them. She had borrowed and read almost every book they had brought. Which wasn't many. About one in every five expedition members had brought a book worth reading. Someone had even brought the entire series of Harry Potter. After reading the six books, Teyla was so sad that she couldn't read the seventh one. She may never know what happens to poor Harry.

But Teyla didn't read in the lounge. She would go to the library, pick out a book, and take it back to her quarters to read.

John and Teyla started staying up later than they usually did to read. In turn they started getting up later and later. So John decided that every night, he would go to bed at midnight so he could get up a little earlier. To ensure this, he set his watch alarm to go off at five till midnight so he could have some time to finish the chapter/page/paragraph/etc. of his book. And, so Teyla would go to bed earlier, at midnight, on his way back to his quarters, he would knock on Teyla's door so she would know what time it was.

At first she didn't understand why John was knocking on her door, but when he knocked, it pulled her out of the plot of the story and she would end up looking at her watch. Seeing that it was midnight, Teyla would finish what she was reading and then go to bed.

Every time Teyla finished her books, she would leave her quarters and go back into the library to get some more. John noticed this as the door was heavy and creaked loudly everytime it was opened. Teyla would spend five to ten minutes searching for a book and then go back to her quarters.

As she looked, John saw which books she liked to read. Teyla always picked a fictional book, a mythological book, a historical book, a fantasy, mysterious, and religious book, and a science fiction book. John even saw her take some books from the romance section, which she did well to hide between all her other books.

Teyla would get new books at least once a week and the creaking was starting to annoy John. So the next time Teyla came in to get new books, on her way out he said, "Just read them here."

Teyla was shocked that he had spoken to her. She hesitated, not sure if she should. But then John looked up from his book and smiled at her. She couldn't help it, she smiled back and sat down next to him on the sofa.

From that moment on things were different between the two. They talked to each other now. Usually they would talk about the books they were reading and recommend some. It took awhile for them to get comfortable enough with each other again before they would dare mention Atlantis. Then one day it all spilled out over dinner.

"...and so, in the end, Bornius, their leader, was assassinated and Jifeerin took over, but he ended up being as terrible as Bornius." John was telling Teyla about the latest book he read.

"Well I'm glad you finally decided to read a historical book. Even if it was the one that contained the bloodiest war I've ever heard about." John smiled then looked down into his food (Carrots and what looked like beef.) and frowned.

"I miss Atlantis." He said suddenly. Teyla stopped chewing. She looked up at John with a terrible look of grief on her face.

"So do I." She said after swallowing her food.

"I mean, I _really_ miss it. I miss Elizabeth and Ronon and Carson. I even miss all those geeky scientists. Hell, I even miss McKay! I miss everybody! It's been six months. I'm tired of reading all the time too. Not that I don't love it, it's just that I want to do something else. Something more. Like go on missions and kill Wraith and stuff!" Teyla was only mildly surprised at his outburst. In truth she felt exactly the same.

"I know, John. I miss them all too. And I'm tired of doing the same thing everyday as well. But there is nothing we can do. I am sorry that this happened, but nothing we say or do can change it. We just have to accept it." Teyla's semi-comforting words mixed with her soothing voice had the right effect on John.

"I'm glad you're the one who got stuck on this ship with me. Not that I want you to be here, it's just that, I don't think I could handle it if McKay, Ronon, or Elizabeth were here." Teyla blushed faintly, though not sure how to answer.

"I- Thank you?" John chuckeled. He couldn't blame her though. Even _he_ wasn't sure if it was a compliment or not. It was just what had been on his mind.

"You're welcome, Tey."

That night, John hadn't bothered to set his alarm for midnight, so he and Teyla ended up reading well past midnight. Teyla had fallen asleep first and her head dropped onto John's shoulder. When he felt this, he looked down at his watch. Seeing that it was half past three, John closed his book, placed it on the end table and turned off the lamp before propping his feet up on the coffee table and wrapping his arm around Teyla so he was a little more comfortable. Within minutes he was asleep.

A/N- Don't forget to review! It just makes my day to read what you all have to say about my stories!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N- Not that interesting of a chapter but it had to be done! Sorry if it bores those of you who only want to read about John and Teyla (I admit it, I'm one of them) :) but you'll like the end except for the corney-ish last line.

Chapter 6

Elizabeth rubbed her forehead furiously. She was reading a mission report but none of it was sinking in. There was a knock on the door and Carson came in.

"Elizabeth. Here's my report on our research of the retrovirus." Carson put it on top of the rest of the reports which were threatening to topple over any second.

"Thank you Carson." Elizabeth smiled at him over the paper she was holding.

Carson took one look at the dark circles under Elizabeth's eyes, her tousled hair, and her sagging shoulders and snatched the report out of her hands. Elizabeth didn't protest. She just sighed and buried her face in her hands, pushing the heels of them into her eyes.

Carson sat down in the chair across from her and took her hands in his, pulling them away from her face so she would look at him. "Elizabeth, you can't do this to yourself. You're exausted. You need sleep. Staying awake forever is not going to bring John and Teyla home any sooner." Elizabeth nodded. "Everything is going to be alright. The Yugo -- I mean the 'Residents' or council or whatever the hell their called -- agreed to allow us to use their land as sanctuary if the Wraith come after us again. And they are deciding -- right now as we speak -- whether to allow us to trade with them _and_ whether to let us recieve what we need for free until John and Teyla return. Kalenn will help us."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the woman's name. "Kalenn. I don't trust her. She said they wouldn't be able to get home if their radio wasn't working. How could she know about their radio? I think she knew they weren't coming home."

"Elizabeth," Carson didn't disagree with this acusation. It _was_ a bit suspicious. But he couldn't see Kalenn doing something like that then going and considering -- maybe even allowing -- them to have some free stuff for two years. "Considering to trade with us and us not have to give them anything was an act of good faith. If she knew, why would she even consider it? Now if she refused to admit that it was her fault -- which, it really _wasn't _-- I could believe that she knew. Kalenn is a wise woman. She probably knew something was wrong with the radio but didn't think it was a serious risk."

Elizabeth had to agree. She pulled her hands out of Carson's grasp and ran them through her messy hair. "You're right Carson. And I do need to get some sleep. Is there anything you can give me to help? I don't think I could fall asleep on my own."

"Aye I do. I'll bring something by tonight."

"Thank you." Elizabeth sat back casually. "So how's Gabby doing?"

"She's getting big. Before too long she won't be able to work anymore. But she's really happy. It's actually kind of funny. On all her breaks she asks me to do a sonogram just so she can see it."

Elizabeth smiled. "And how's Ronon taking it?"

"He was really excited when he found out. As far as I know he still is, but Gabby wants to get married before the baby's born and I think Ronon wants to wait for Col. Sheppard to come back."

"I can understand that." She smirked. "You know Carson, I think people tell you more about their problems than they tell Dr. Heightmeyer." Carson laughed.

"I guess so. So how are you and Rodney?"

"We're doing okay. But this thing with Col. Sheppard is really getting to him. John was his first real friend and now he's gone. I think he changed Rodney. From what I read in Col. Carter's mission reports, he was really a..."

"Jerk?" Carson finished her sentence.

"Yeah. But since coming to Atlantis I... If I were just reading those mission reports now, I wouldn't believe it."

"I know what you mean. He really has changed."

"Yeah. But in the last few months he's become kinda distant."

"I can talk to him if you want." Elizabeth smiled at Carson. A real genuine smile that hadn't even touched her lips since John and Teyla disappeared.

"Thank you Carson. I really mean it. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't here." Carson looked down at his hands that rested in his lap.

"Elizabeth, now I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I really think you, Rodney, and Ronon need to get on with your lives. They will be back. Col. Sheppard is the best pilot there is. He will get himself and Teyla home. But would he want you all to be killing yourselves over him? Would Teyla?"

Elizabeth shook her head. She knew in her heart that what she, Rodney, and Ronon were doing wasn't right and not what John or Teyla would have wanted. They would have wanted them to get over it and get on with their lives.

Carson stood up. "I'll go get you those sleeping pills." He left Elizabeth to her thoughts and after bringing back her sleeping pills, Elizabeth thought she'd try a little psycology of her own.

Upon entering the gym, Elizabeth watched silently as Ronon released all his pent up anger on a poor punching bag. He was punching so hard that Elizabeth was starting to see the white stuffing working its way out of a tiny hole that was slowly getting larger and larger from Ronon's continuous punching and kicking.

When Ronon finally took a break, he didn't notice Elizabeth until she cleared her throat rather loudly. "You better be careful with that, the Deadalus won't be able to bring us a new punching bag for a couple of weeks. Unless Rodney decides to fill in for it." Ronon didn't answer her. He grabbed his bag and was about to walk out of the room when Elizabeth stopped him.

"Can I talk to you?" Ronon grunted and threw his bag on the floor then sat on the bench under the window. Elizabeth sat down next to him.

"I hear Gabby wants to get married?" Ronon nodded. "I also hear that you don't want to because of Col. Sheppard and Teyla."

"So what?" Elizabeth took a deep breath.

"Ronon, Gabby's pregnant. It's probably a good idea for you two to get married. Col. Sheppard and Teyla wouldn't want you to wait for them. They _are_ going to be home in a year and a half and -"

Ronon suddenly turned his head to face her and cut her off. "If they're coming home in eightteen months then why should we do it now when we can do it when Sheppard and Teyla get home?"

"Ronon, do you want to marry Gabby?"

"Yes." He growled.

"And if John and Teyla were here would you marry her as soon as possible?"

"Yes." He admitted.

"So why don't you? John and Teyla wouldn't want you to wait for them. They would want us to get on with our lives. Don't you think so?" Ronon didn't say anything. After what seemed like eternity Ronon nodded and a smile broke out on his face.

"I'm getting married and I'm going to be a dad." Elizabeth smiled and gave him a congratulatory hug before getting up and leaving to get some much needed sleep. But before she did, she had one more thing to do.

The science lab was almost completely deserted except for one lone scientist working in the dim light coming from the laptop that sat on the table next to him.

"Rodney." Elizabeth said, coming up behind him and putting her arms around his waist. "Aren't you coming to bed?"

"Yeah yeah yeah." He said distractedly. "I'll be there just as soon as I finish figuring out what this does." He poked and prodded the... 'thing' for another ten minutes, during which Elizabeth sat next to him patiently watching.

Rodney threw down his poker-thingy and rubbed his eyes furiously. "Come on Rodney. You need sleep. Carson gave me some sleeping pills. You should take one."

"No. Elizabeth I'm fine. I just need -- I don't know what I need but it's not sleep!" He snapped. Elizabeth looked down at his doohickey.

"I was just trying to help. You've been so distant lately and I -"

"Elizabeth," He was the second person to cut her off today. "Just please. I'm fine and I don't need you to help me."

Elizabeth knew Rodney didn't mean that and that he was just tired and missed John and Teyla, but that didn't stop the tears that poured up to her eyes, threatening to spill at the next thing that was dumped onto her mind.

Rodney saw the tears in her eyes and regretted what he'd said at once. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly. "Oh Elizabeth, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that. I know you are just trying to help." Elizabeth nodded into his shoulder, too afraid to speak lest the tears would start falling. "I just miss them."

"I miss them too." She finally said when she had managed to blink back the tears. "But we have to let them go. If we don't we'll never get back to our normal lives. And they'll be back. Now will you please come to bed?" Rodney shut off his equipment and Elizabeth led him down the hall to their quarters.

o

John was in an exceptionally good mood when Teyla sauntered into the kitchen the next morning. He was mixing up what the Yugonians considered pancakes and was singing a song she had never heard before.

_"I don't want to close my eyes, I don't want to fall asleep cause I'd miss you baby, and I don't want to miss a thing, cause even when I dream of you the sweetest dream will never do I'd still miss you baby, and I don't want to miss a thing."_ John stopped singing and spun around abruptly as he heard the door close behind Teyla. His cheeks going red, he stumbled to find an excuse or divert Teyla's attention from himself.

"Practising for the choir are you?" Teyla smirked.

"Uh -- uh -- I uh --" Teyla started laughing. She was almost rolling on the floor she was laughing so hard. John found the humor in the situation and joined Teyla in laughing.

o

That night Teyla slept in her own bed instead of on the library couch. She and John had had so much fun that day. They had gone for a 'picnic' in the ballroom where they sat on the wooden floor and ate and talked until they went exploring some more. They had found some cells and Teyla had thought it funny to lock John inside one while pretending she didn't know how to re-open it.

Teyla drifted off to sleep, dreaming about what they would do the next day. At some point in the night, though, her dreams changed into horrible, terrorizing images. She saw the day her father died, saw her friends being killed by the Wraith, she even saw John's life being drained away by something that wasn't a Wraith. It was something that scared her even more. It was her!

Teyla sat up, soaked in a cold sweat and with her heart beating a mile a minute. John started pounding on the door and she jumped out of bed, threw the door open, and flung herself into John's arms.

"What's wrong? I heard you screaming and I thought..." John let his thought hang in the air.

"I'm okay. It was just a bad dream." John pulled back and looked at her face. Remnants of the dream still hung in her eyes.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Teyla nodded. She turned to go back into her room and as soon as she passed through the door, the dream returned full fledged. She jumped back out again and back into John's arms.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" Teyla whispered into his shoulder.

"Yeah. Of course you can." John shut Teyla's door and took her to his room. She got into his bed and John was about to settle himself onto the sofa when Teyla asked him to stop.

"Please? Just for tonight?" John nodded and got into the bed with her. Teyla snuggled in with him and his arms wound themselves around her waist, holding her close. She fell instantly asleep and the dreams didn't return. John kissed the top of Teyla's head before falling asleep himself.

Back in Teyla's room, an entity cackled as it grew stronger, feeding off the fear left in the room by Teyla.

o

The 'one night' lasted for the rest of their lives. Teyla was too afraid to go back into her own room since everytime she re-entered it her dream returned.

So after a week of John's going into Teyla's room to get her that day's clothes, he finally took all her stuff out and put it in his room and they moved in together. Not out of love (At least not yet.), but out of the fear that bound them together.

A/N- I told you it was corney! But I didn't know how else to finish it so that was the best I could do. REVIEW!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N- Short chapter. Sorry for the delay.

Chapter 7

Teyla woke up late this morning. John had not woken her like he usually did. But today felt different to her for some reason. Something was special about this day. Teyla sat up and reached under the bed for her makeshift calender. Her eyes scanned over the blocks until she found what day it was. Of course! It was her birthday! But she frowned as she realized what today was supposed to mean to her people.

Because of the Wraith, someone reaching their thirty-fifth year was special. Especially for the leader. Usually, on their birthdays, an Athosian recieves one gift from someone special, a parent, a spouse, sibling, child, etc. But on their thirty-fifth birthday, the person has a party thrown in honor of them. For the leader, it is a sign of strength.

In fact, it was exactly ten years ago that Teyla had assumed leadership when her father was taken by the Wraith. Had she been with her people, Teyla would have recieved an even more extravaggant party for lasting ten years as their leader.

Pushing those thoughts aside and relishing that today was her birthday, _her_ day, Teyla flung the blanket off of her and all but jumped out of bed. It took all of her self control to keep from skipping to the bathroom.

As she stepped in front of the sink to brush her teeth, Teyla got quite a shock when she saw the mirror. Somehow, someway, John had found out that today was her birthday and had taken a marker and wrote: _"Happy Birthday Teyla! Love John."_ on the mirror. And he had drawn little balloons all around it too.

Something about the word 'love' sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach. But she just ignored it and picked up her toothbrush and went on brushing her teeth and washing her face. Then she got dressed and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

Teyla showed up in the kitchen half expecting John to be there. When she saw he wasn't, she was slightly disappointed. But her disappointment didn't last when she saw what was on the table. Every kind of breakfast food that the ship carried had been cooked and left on the table. And everything was still hot. And there was a note next to it all. It read:

"_Dear Teyla,_

_I didn't know what you wanted and I didn't want to wake you so I made everything. I'm sorry I couldn't eat with you but I had something I needed to do. Eat as much as you want of whatever you want. I've already eaten so you don't need to save me anything. When you're done meet me in the gym. I've got a surprise for you._

_Love John_

_P.S. AND DON'T YOU DARE CLEAN THOSE DISHES WHEN YOU'RE DONE! It's your special day so I'll get them later!"_

Teyla opted for sausages and toast. But when she realized how much food was there, she couldn't waste it. John had taken a lot of time to make it. So she took a little bit of everything. Soon her plate was full and Teyla had to put her eggs on top of her pancakes to fit it all on.

After she had gone back for second helpings, Teyla was stuffed full to the brim and realized it was probably a good idea to go to the gym.

But when Teyla entered the room, all ready in her sparring clothes (which she had found along with loads of other clothes in a laundry room of sorts), she had not expected what she was now seeing. Somewhere, John had found some pieces of plywood and paint and had somehow cut the wood in the shapes of balloons and hung them up on the walls, all painted in different colors. In the middle of the room sat a table. And on the table was a round... thing. It had _Happy Birthday_ written on it in red set on a white background.

Around the circular thing were four things wrapped in brown paper. Teyla lifted one of the packages that was long and skinny. She reached up to open it when she heard John behind her.

"Nah-ah. Sorry. You can't open those yet." His face was set in a serious expression but his eyes were laughing at her. "You're not opening presents until after lunch. Well, I guess you can open that now since you're going to spar now." He nodded towards the package that was still in her hands. Smiling curiously, Teyla pulled off the paper and two beautiful tonfa sticks tumbled out and into her hand.

"Oh! John they're beautiful! Where did you find them?" Since becoming trapped on the ship, Teyla had no means to practice with tonfa sticks. Now she had some. And these were even more beautiful than her original ones. All along the long circular sticks, little designs were carved into the wood. And the handles were wrapped tightly with leather.

"Well I found some wood and supplies in one of the rooms when I went exploring on my own once. My grandfather used to carve wood and taught me when I was little. So I made them for you because I knew you needed a pair." Teyla grinned from ear to ear and flung her arms around John's neck.

"Thank you! I love them!" When she finally let go of John, Teyla spun the tonfa sticks in her hands.

John slid the table over to the wall and pulled out a pair of his own tonfa sticks from his bag in the corner. There were, Teyla noticed, no designs carved onto his sticks. _'We'll just have to fix that.'_ Teyla mused to herself. She knew a thing or two about carving and planned to find out where John made the sticks and sneak in there one night to carve designs into his. Because, of course, he deserved it for everything he did for her.

"Are you ready to finally lose?" John challenged, stretching his arms out.

"That depends, are you ready to practice?" Teyla retorted, also stretching herself out.

"You've been hanging around McKay too much."

"Oh I don't know. I haven't seen him in eleven months. I think he has worn off."

"No. I don't think he has. That there was a very 'McKay-ish' response." Finished stretching, the pair stalked around each other in circles with there sticks raised.

John struck first, his overconfidence getting the better of him. For Teyla had raised her left stick a little higher than necessary and John went to strike her. But even eleven months could not drive Teyla's training from her mind. She had raised her stick as a trap, and she caught John's stick with her own before his could make contact with her side.

John saw the opportunity she had made for him. He went for it. And she caught him before he could strike her with his other stick. She let go of his other arm and hit him on the back of his knees, causing him to fall and Teyla to get the better of him. In no time at all she had him pinned to the floor with her knee on his chest.

"Okay. You win."

"It is not about winning, John, it is about the practice. And you still have not done so." Teyla smirked at him. She got off of him and he got up. They went at it again for a couple of hours. By one o'clock Teyla had him pinned down for the thirteenth time.

"I give up. Tey I will never beat you." Teyla laughed at this.

"No, you may not. But if you practice you might actually get the better of me one of these days." John smiled up at her. That quirky, warm smile that always managed to make her heart melt. "I am going to take a shower for lunch." Teyla got off and left the room, leaving John lying on the floor hoping against hope she would like her present.

REVIEW!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N- Last chapter on the ship. I know it's only been one year but the story was dragging on and I needed to get on with the plot. So you only have to endure this one last chapter of pointless Sheyla fluff (not that it's pointless, but it _was_ lacking a real plot).

Chapter 8

Teyla showered and changed her clothes, then went back down to the gym. She saw that John wasn't there so she headed to the kitchen where she assumed he was cleaning up from breakfast. And sure enough, John was putting the last dish in the "dishwasher" as she walked in.

"I'm going to take a shower, Tey." John said, turning around. "Don't you dare peek in your presents while I'm gone now." He grinned and Teyla returned it.

"I would _never_." Teyla assured half-heartedly. John just smiled and walked out to take his shower, leaving Teyla anxious to know what he got her.

o

"Now didn't I say not to peek?" Teyla spun around from where she was examining one of her packages. She saw John wasn't mad, in fact he was smiling, and she grinned evilly back.

"I couldn't help myself." Teyla admitted. "But I didn't _open_ it." She protested.

"Well you can't open them until after lunch." It was then that Teyla noticed the picnic basket John was carrying.

"And what are we having for lunch?" John carried the basket over and set it on the table.

"Why don't we find out?" He lifted the lid and pulled out two sandwiches and two bottles of water. They sat on the floor as there were no chairs in the gym and munched through their ham and cheese sandwiches.

"Present time!" John announced when they had finished eating. "Open this one first." He said, handing her a light and squishy one.

Teyla tore the paper off and gasped when she held up a gorgeous floor length, light blue dress. "John it's beautiful." She folded the dress up carefully as John handed her a second present. This one was small and odd-shaped. A pair of white shoes were wrapped inside.

"I hope they fit. I didn't know what size you are so I had to guess." said John. "I found those in the secondary laundry room. You don't know about that. I'll have to take you. Everything is new and has never been used there. It's all in plastic wrap."

Teyla placed them next the the dress on the table and picked up the last present. "You've been busy." She exclaimed as she pulled the paper off of two wooden bangles, one engraved with her name and the other engraved with flowers.

"They're all for dinner tonight."

"Thank you John! I love them." She pulled John into a tight hug and when she let him go she couldn't stop smiling.

"Do you want your cake now?" He hinted. He wanted to eat it. It was chocolate with buttercream icing -- his favorite.

"What is a cake?" Teyla asked innocently. John's jaw dropped as he realized Teyla had never eaten cake before.

"You just wait." He stuck four candles in the cake and lit them. "Blow them out and make a wish." Teyla did as she was told.

John picked up a knife from inside the basket and held it out for Teyla. "Would you like to do the honors of cutting it?" Teyla tentatively took the knife and stood over the "cake," not sure what she was supposed to cut.

"Here. Let me help you." John took her hand and guided it over the cake, showing her where to cut.

"I see." Teyla said, placing the piece she had just cut on the plate John held out for her. "And what do we do with this?"

"You eat it." John said taking a fork and biting into a piece to show her. Teyla grabbed a fork to and mimicked his actions. Her face lit up as the chocolatey goodness slid over her tongue.

"Like it?" Teyla nodded and eagerly ate the rest of her piece. John gave her a second and she ate that one a little bit slower to savor the taste.

"I'll help you clean up." Teyla offered when they were finished. John looked at her hopelessly.

"It's your birthday. You're not supposed to do any work. In fact you're supposed to sit around and mock those who do have to work." Teyla rather liked this idea and she promptly went over and lounged on the floor with a smug expression on her face.

John packed everything back into the basket except for the cake and Teyla couldn't resist scoffing, as he was walking out the door, "Hve fun." John sneered back at her before trudging on with his task.

Not wanting to be left alone, Teyla jumped up and followed him out.

o

The next couple of hours went by quickly. Teyla and John spent it talking and planning what they were going to do when they got back to Atlantis.

"We only have a little more than a year left. We need to start planning our grand entrance now." John had said and so they came up with some wacky and some slightly insane ideas.

"Well it's two-thirty. You better start getting ready for dinner. I have to start cooking now so you are forbidden from entering the kitchen or the ballroom until then." John started shooing her to their room.

"Ooh, we're having dinner in the ballroom, are we? Fancy." Teyla commented.

"Well the occasion calls for it. You wouldn't want to eat in the kitchen with that dress of yours now would you?" John pointed out. "Now go before I have to pick you up and carry you out myself."

"I won't need two and a half hours to get ready though." Teyla complained. "What should I do until I need to start getting dressed?" John sent her a skeptical glance.

"Tey, you're a woman."

"Nice of you to notice." John shook his head, clearly amused.

"What I mean is that, it's a law among women throughout the universe that they need a long time to get ready for a date. It's encoded in their DNA or something." Teyla rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I'll start now. But if it takes me less than two and a half hours, you owe me... Breakfast in bed."

"Deal. And if it takes you that long or longer, you owe me... I haven't decided yet. But I'll think of something."

"Fine." She turned on her heel and strolled out of the room so quickly that if John had blinked, he would have missed her exit.

o

'A law among women?' Teyla thought as she stood under the hot stream of water in the shower. Yes, she was taking another shower. The last time she didn't wash her hair, so she was washing it now. "I don't need that long." She said to herself, stepping out and drying herself off with a towel before brushing her teeth.

The hot air from the blow dryer quickly dried her hair to a silky mess and she brushed it to untangle it. Teyla was about to walk out when she saw the curling iron in the basket of hair products she had found and couldn't resist the urge to snatch it up and put a few curls in her hair.

And when she was done curling her hair she just had to put on some make up. When she had first found it, Teyla briefly wondered why there would be make up on a ship that was meant to carry things for trading and emergency evacuations only. But she had cast the thought aside and saved the make up for a rainy day. And to Teyla, it was pouring out because she was using eye shadow, mascara, eyeliner, blush, lip stick, etc. etc.

She had to do her eye make up twice because she didn't like the way she had done it. Then she decided to re-do her hair because she wanted to put it all in cigar curls. She looked very pretty when she was finished.

Now for the dress. It was a beautiful light blue/light turquoise color with off-the-shoulder sleeves. She slipped it over her head and admired herself in the mirror. It cinched at her stomach and was just high enough to be modest, but low enough to sexy. The skirt part was a full circle and swished loosely around her legs as she walked around the room. It hugged her in all the right places and the material felt like silk.

Teyla put her bangles on and then the white shoes to complete the outfit. The shoes were just a little too big in the toe. She went back into the bathroom and pulled the first aid kit out from under the sink. She opened it and got out four cotton balls. Then she took her shoes off and tuffed two in the toe of each. She put them back on and they were perfect.

Her reflection didn't do her justice. The dress was just long enough with the high heeled shoes to allow the shoes to peek out from under its folds.

Teyla glanced up at the clock and rolled her eyes for the second time that day. John had been right. It was five after five. She had completely lost track of time.

o

John was just lighting the candles when he heard Teyla come in. "You're late." He said. "I think you owe me something now." He blew the match out and turned around, totally not prepared to see Teyla so... so beautiful.

"Uh... You look... wow." Teyla smiled at his reaction and gave him the once over. He was wearing black pants with an untucked, button down white shirt and a black jacket. He looked very, very good in Teyla's opinion.

"Thank you. You look nice too." He smiled and Teyla walked over to him.

John fidgeted for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a black box. "It's missing something though." He opened the box and Teyla's breath hitched when she saw what was inside. A silver heart pendent on a silver chain. John lifted it out and held it up for her to see. The heart was open and had a purple stone in the middle and three tiny clear stones along one side of the heart. It was no bigger than the fingernail on her index finger.

Teyla lifted her hair up and turned around as John went to put it around her neck. She turned around when he had hooked it. "Beautiful." He whispered.

"Where did you get it?" Teyla asked as John motioned for her to sit at the table set for two at the back of the room. For the first time she noticed how the room was decorated. The lights were turned down and dark red curtains were put up to cut the room in half. The table was set with candles and the food was already on the plates and water filled the glasses.

"It was my mother's. It was her mother's before it was hers though." John pulled Teyla's chair out for her and she sat down. John sat down in the seat across from her. "I was her only child and she died before I could get married so she gave it to me to give it to my wife. Obviously you're not my wife, and we're no where near getting married, but you're one of the best friends I've ever had and I want you to have it. I know my mom would have agreed with me were she still alive today. She would have loved you."

Teyla smiled again. "She sounds like a wonderful woman." She sent a quick prayer of thanks to the Ancestors before picking up her fork and taking a bite of her food.

o

"No, I have never heard of that." They had finished their dinner and were now comparing their different cultures. They were currently on the subject of dancing.

"It's a quick-paced dance. I don't know it though."

"You have said that to every dance you have mentioned. Is there any dance you _do_ know?" Teyla asked. To her surprise, John hopped up and grabbed a small device off of a pile of boxes in the corner. He clicked it and soft music played from somewhere in the room.

"Funny you asked." He went up to her and held out his hand. "Teyla Emmagan, may I have this dance?" Teyla was flattered and she took his hand.

"I don't know how to dance to this music though."

"It's easy. You pretty much just follow me." John placed her left hand on his shoulder and wrapped his right arm around her waist. Their free hands clasped together and John led her around the floor in time to the music.

"So you do dance!" Teyla praised.

"Yes, I do know a thing or two." Their eyes locked. Teyla hadn't even realized they had stopped moving until his lips were on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss by opening her mouth and allowing his tongue entrance. He caressed her face and she ran her fingers through his hair.

But can our John and Teyla ever have a perfect moment with absolutely no interuptions, even when they're on a deserted ship? Nope. In fact, just at that moment, the ship started shaking really very violently, tossing the couple to the ground.

"What's going on?" Teyla yelled over the noise of the ship. John had no answer to this question. He pulled himself up and Teyla did the same.

"Come on!" He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the bridge. He sat in the pilot's seat and began frantically searching for something to explain what was going on.

A flashing red sign popped up. "Uh, Tey? You might want to sit down and hold on to something. We're going to crash."

She did as he said. "What is it?"

"The engine is failing for some reason and the ship has automatically plotted a course for the nearest planet, which happens to be right up ahead, and it's going to crash land us there."

The ship entered the planet's atmosphere and John and Teyla could feel themselves dropping to the land below them. John did some quick thinking and activated inertial dampeners to their maximum settings.

o

John woke up and realized that the crash had knocked him out. He rubbed his head and recoiled when his forehead stung from the action. From what he could feel, he had a deep gash there.

Something groaned beside him and he saw Teyla wake up. She had been knocked out as well and didn't appear to have any injuries.

"You okay Tey?" He asked.

"I will be fine." Came her exasperated reply.

"Good." John looked out the windshield and saw only the tops of trees before them"When we were crashing, was it my imagination, or did I see the Stargate in orbit above the planet?"

"You saw the Stargate. I saw it also."

"Great. We go from one bad situation to another one. Does Bad Luck always have to follow us around? Can't he go bother someone else?" Teyla didn't answer. She was squinting out the window at something far away.

"What is it?" John asked.

"I believe there is a village just over there." She said, pointing to the left. John looked and saw it too.

"You're right. We should check it out." They jumped out of their seats and went to find the doors (they had forgotten their locations since never having to use them).

As they exited the ship, the entity, occupying one of the vacant living quarters, having taken what it needed, transformed and left the ship as well, searching for a more permanent work space.

Dun dun dun. Cliffie! Now review! And mon petit chou, you know who you are, if you're reading this - which you should be, expecially after that nice little e-mail I sent you - you had better review or I will come after you with torches and pitchforks!


	9. Chapter 9

a/n: I'VE FINALLY UPDATED!!! everyone groans

Chapter 9

"More tea, dears?" The elderly woman, Saris, asked, holding a ceramic tea pot and smiling kindly.

"No thank you." Teyla answered politely and John shook his head. Saris set the pot on the coffee table in front of them and returned to her seat next to her husband, Brenn. Brenn eyed them suspiciously, but only slightly. Saris usually had good judgment when it came to people and she believed the couple to be, as she liked to say, 'right good people.'

Brenn had been hunting in the forest when the ship had crashed and brought Teyla and John back to his home for a cup of tea and some much needed help as they seemed to be lost. Even though Brenn was a little suspicious of the two, he was a very trusting person, even to his enemies, and couldn't turn down the chance to brag about how delicious his wife's tea was.

"So you crashed here while on your way back home," Saris clarified. "And you need supplies to fix your ship so you can continue on your way?"

"That's right." John set his empty cup down on the table. "Or if your people have a way to get to the stargate, that would be even more helpful."

Saris smiled sympathetically at him. "You can try to find some supplies, perhaps from a wraith ship that has crashed recently – we can show you the site where they were placed – but I'm afraid there is no way to reach the stargate." John and Teyla had been expecting this. It seemed like they just couldn't get a break. John was secretly wondering if it was all really just a coincidence that bad stuff kept happening to them.

"In the meantime we can find you a place to stay." Brenn added. "There is a house just down the road that was recently vacated because the only occupant married. The woman still owns the house but I'm sure she wouldn't mind your using it. I will pay her a visit and ask." Brenn stood and, after a quick good-bye to his wife and Teyla and John, grabbed his coat and was gone.

"We appreciate your hospitality." Teyla said graciously to Saris while tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Well you're quite welcome, dear. It's not often that we get visitors who got stranded here. We're glad to help you." Suddenly, the meaning of the word hit the two "visitors" like a ton of bricks; they were stranded. And with the stargate in orbit around the planet, there was no way in hell they were getting back to Atlantis unless they could fix the ship. But with the limited supplies the people could offer, there was a slim-to-none chance of them ever getting home. Shockingly, this news wasn't as hard on John or Teyla as one would expect it to be. They had prepared themselves for not seeing their friends and after having almost a year to get accustomed to this, they weren't as heart broken at the thought of probably never seeing them again.

"You two are dressed awfully nice for having been staying on a ship." Saris observed. "What's the occasion?" Teyla was disinclined to attract attention to herself, so she was just about to say that they were just having dinner – not a lie, but not the whole truth either – when John jumped right in and announced that it was her birthday.

Saris squealed excitedly and jumped up to hug her while Teyla shot a menacing glare in John's direction. He merely smirked in response.

After Saris poured everybody another cup of tea and made a toast to Teyla (apparently birthdays were very important on this planet because Saris told stories about past birthdays she had had in her life and how special they made her feel – or maybe it was just that this woman liked them especially for some reason or another), Brenn returned with excellent news: they could reside in the empty house until further arrangements could be made.

Brenn walked them down to the house after Saris forced them all to have one more cup of tea and congratulated Teyla again.

The place was nice enough, little homey touches were present in all of the rooms, and it was small, but not too cramped. It was big enough for no more than two people. They admired the home, and then John and Teyla walked back up to the ship to get a few necessities.

When the evening came, an awkward silence settled over John and Teyla. There was only one bedroom and although they had been sharing a bed for the past couple months, after they had dived head first into a completely new stage in their relationship, neither knew what to say when the time came to sleep.

"Well… uh do you want the bed? I can take the couch downstairs." John said uncomfortably. He had never been in a situation like this before.

"No. We… well, we've been… it shouldn't be different…" Teyla tried while awkwardly pulling at a string on her pajama top.

"Do you want me to…" John pointed over his shoulder, indicating the couch downstairs. Teyla shook her head. "Well then do you want me to…" Teyla nodded this time, knowing he meant the bed.

They got in bed and Teyla lay as stiff as a board until John wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. She felt butterflies in her stomach when John kissed the back of her neck before falling asleep.

a/n: You know what to do!


	10. Chapter 10

a/n: Boy am I glad to be back where people actually review! (unlike those people at fiction press!) Thanks to all my lovely reviewers for your encouraging words! They make me want to update faster! hint hint

Chapter 10

"It's just this thing we do every year." Heule, a tall man with blonde hair that fell into his blue eyes when it wasn't pulled back, explained to John as they both chopped wood for the bonfire that was happening tonight. "It's always on the last day of summer. The two of you'll like it. There's dancing and singing and after about only two hours everyone gets so drunk that no one can even stand."

"Sounds like fun." John grinned. "We'll be there."

"Great." Heule set his axe down and leaned against a nearby tree wiping the sweat off his face. Across the field, several women were hanging laundry along ropes that ran between trees. Teyla was among them. She had made herself quite at home with the Guireans. Everyday she was either going to someone's house or someone was coming to theirs.

The Wraith darts were of no use. As much as John tried, he could not get the ship fixed. He even tried flying one of the darts but they were all too damaged to work. He and Teyla had eventually given up and accepted that there was no way they would ever get back to Atlantis. This affected them only for the first couple of days, during which the Guireans offered their support.

A week later John and Teyla started building a house of their own because the woman who owned the one they were staying in needed it for her father who's own house had caught fire and her husband and she had no room for him in theirs. Her father had been staying with a friend until John and Teyla moved out, which didn't take too long because a lot of the villagers helped out.

Heule had left to do something for the party and John continued chopping wood until he felt a hand on his back. He spun around and there was Teyla holding a glass of ice water for him. He drank it eagerly and when he finished, he gave her a quick kiss.

"Thank you." He said. "You want to go to this bonfire tonight?"

"I do. Camille has been telling me about it and I'm getting excited."

"Yeah me too." John looked down at the axe in his hand. "Well I had better finish the wood but when I'm done I'll come up for lunch, kay?"

"How much more do you have to do?" John pointed to a fairly large pile. "Well you had better get started then." Teyla said smugly and walked away. John smiled and got back to work.

oOo

The sound of glass clinking glass rang out over the roaring fire as everyone drank to a safe and healthy winter. Glasses were refilled and soon everybody started singing and dancing wildly as they slowly started getting inebriated.

John hadn't wanted to drink too much tonight, but he found it impossible as glass after glass of the alien alcohol was shoved into his hand. Once he had gotten a good buzz, but was still slightly in control of his own actions, he tried to stop, but Teyla, who hadn't even tried to refuse the drink, challenged him to drink as many shots as he could in one minute. The challenge coming from Teyla, he simply couldn't refuse and they took turns doing this for ten minutes. By then neither had any of their faculties left and partook in the rest of the festivities.

After a couple hours, many of the Guireans had either gone home or were passed out on the ground. The woman Teyla had been singing with had just keeled over into the dirt so she made her way over to John and dragged him off to the hills.

John wrapped his arms around Teyla as they stumbled into the night, but it was a bad idea since it brought them both down into the grass. They laughed uncontrollably until they had gotten comfortable on the soft ground.

"I love this woman!" John shouted at the sky. Teyla laughed again. "I want to live the rest of her life with me! Will you marry me?"

"Yes let's get married!" She replied excitedly. "Tonight! Let's get married tonight!"

John was starting to get nauseous so he ungracefully fell back on the hill. Teyla was holding onto his arm so she was pulled down too with a cute little "oomph." John plucked up a blade of grass and did his best to tie the two ends together before picking up Teyla's hand and somehow managing to stick it on her finger.

"Tonight we sleep. Maybe tomorrow."

oOo

John woke up with one of the worst hangovers he had had in a long time. In fact the last time he had gotten that drunk was almost seven years ago at one of his buddies' bachelor party.

He looked over and saw Teyla sprawled face down in the dirt cradling his hand somewhere he was sure she would object to if she were awake. Careful not to rouse her, John gently pulled his hand out from between her hands and her chest and rubbed it to regain feeling in it for it had gone numb from being squished by Teyla.

Teyla slowly cracked her eyes opened and quickly squeezed them shut again, muttering something about turning off the sun. When her eyes had adjusted to the light, she sat up, her hair going every which way and grass sticking to her cheek. John chuckled but was sure he didn't look any better.

"What I would give for some pancakes right now." He groggily murmured while trying and failing to stand up.

"Why pancakes?" Teyla asked as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"They're hangover food." He pulled himself off the ground and swayed for a few seconds until the world stopped spinning. Teyla mimicked him and together they set off back to their house so they could sleep their headaches off.

oOo

Teyla was sipping tea with Saris when the ever vigilant woman pointed out the grass wrapped around Teyla's finger.

"What have you got there?" Teyla looked down at her hand and couldn't remember why she had it. She had rolled out of bed and only managed to change her clothes and brush her teeth and hair before she rushed over to Brenn's and Saris' house for Saris' special tea to cure her hangover.

"Probably just a piece I missed when I brushed myself off after waking up _in_ the grass." She fingered it and when she pulled it off and looked at it, a vision from the night before flashed in her mind. They were in the grass and John had just shouted something. Then he had asked her something.

As realization dawned on Teyla, she hurriedly made up some excuse and dashed out of the house, down the street, through her door, and straight into John.

Breathless, she showed him the ring of grass and he stared at it oddly.

"What's this about?" She flopped into one of the chairs around the kitchen table to catch her breath. John sat in the one next to her.

"You gave this to me. Last night." She explained. John still didn't quite understand what she was going on about. "You… well, you asked me to marry you… last night… on the hill?" John's eyebrows rose so high they were in danger of disappearing into his hairline.

"I did?" Teyla's face turned three shades of red. Embarrassed, she stood up and mumbled a "never mind" and turned to go but John's hand caught her arm. Teyla looked back at his face that was dead serious as he stood up and asked, "Teyla, will you marry me?"

She was grinning from ear to ear. "Yes!" She cried. John smiled and picked her up, kissing her until they couldn't breathe.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry it's so short. I'll try to update more soon.

Chapter 11

Walking down the makeshift aisle, she was a vision in white. No one compared to her beauty that day. Everyone smiled or cried as she made her vows to the one man she loved. The one she was about to spend the rest of her life with.

Soon they were pronounced husband and wife and not one person remained in their seat as they kissed for the first time as a married couple. At the reception, not an eye was dry as friends toasted the two and shared stories from when they first met. An older man whom neither recognized stood.

"Although I do not know these two very well, I have heard from others the kindness and love in their hearts. They have protected us and for that I am truly grateful. Never before have I seen such a perfect match. To Elizabeth and Rodney." He raised his glass and everybody drank to the bride and groom.

Elizabeth was on the verge of crying and Rodney had gone red in the face. Sitting on the beach of the mainland with all of the expedition and the Athosians, there was no place they would rather be – except, maybe, with John and Teyla.

oOo

Drenched in a cold sweat, Teyla sat bolt upright in bed, panting heavily.

"What's the matter?" John had awoken from Teyla's sudden movement and was now holding her to his chest, trying to comfort her.

"I had another dream. Like the one I had on the ship." Her eyes glazed over as she tried to hold onto it, but it escaped her, as dreams usually do, and she was left only with the image that woke her: a pair of coal black eyes staring menacingly into her own.

"I don't remember it now. I'll be alright." John didn't quite believe her, but was too tired to argue and was sure Teyla was as well, so he gave in and let her go back to sleep.

But Teyla didn't sleep. Long after John had drifted away into his dreams, Teyla lie awake trying to understand who the eyes belonged to. Surely she would have remembered seeing eyes as terrifying as those before; She knew they didn't belong to anyone she had met before in her life.

Just before dawn, Teyla finally fell into a fitful sleep. One filled with dreams of the black eyes. Again, when she awoke, the dreams eluded her, and she was once again left only with the image of the eyes.

oOo

"Teyla, are you alright?" Camille, the woman with whom Teyla had become best friends, asked as Teyla yawned for the fifth time that afternoon while they were preparing for the dinner they were going to have together.

It had been four days since Teyla had first had the dream and every night she had trouble staying asleep because her mind kept revisiting the person the eyes belonged to. She had yet to remember anything other than those two frightening attributes, and judging by the way they kept her from getting much sleep, she wasn't all that thrilled about seeing the rest of the person.

But she wasn't about to go telling Camille about her dream no matter how close they had become, because she couldn't bring herself to tell John.

"I haven't been sleeping well because I've…" She frantically thought of an excuse to satisfy Camille's curiosity. Suddenly she had a beyond brilliant idea. "Well, John and I… we're engaged." Camille gasped and clapped her hands together excitedly. "And we didn't want to tell anyone just yet because we wanted to get used to the idea ourselves first. But I've just been wondering if I'm making the right decision."

That was a lie if there ever was one. The only reason they hadn't told anyone about the engagement was because they weren't quite sure how to announce it. And there was no way Teyla was having second thoughts. She knew she was in love with John and wanted to spend the rest of her life with him and nothing could change that. Still, Camille bought it and was pushing Teyla into a chair so she could hear all about everything.

"Oh, dear it's nothing to be worried about!" She said reassuringly. "I went through the same thing when Jerad and I got married. It's totally normal. Just let it pass. You're starting a new part in your life. Of course you're going to be nervous about it. Now tell me, how long have you been keeping this from me?"

"Only about three weeks."

"Three weeks!" She shrieked and then laughed. At just that moment, John walked in the door.

"What's so funny?" He asked as he hung his jacket on one of the pegs by the door. "Hey sweetie." He kissed Teyla before sitting on the couch across from the two women.

Camille was rocking back and forth in her seat, smiling, and biting her knuckle to keep from saying anything. John looked at her strangely but had gotten used to her craziness over the past couple of months so he brushed it off as one of her "moments." Teyla was trying not to laugh at the sight of Camille and was similarly trying not to blurt out that she had told her.

Fortunately for John, he did not have to wait long with the odd-behaving women because Jerad came home and they went outside together to get the wood for the stove so Teyla and Camille could cook dinner.

"Your wife is strange." John said as soon as they had gotten out of earshot of the two friends who had burst out laughing as soon as he and Jerad had left the room.

Dinner passed with small talk and bits of gossip and Teyla was grateful that Camille had mustered up enough self-control to keep from shouting out her juicy bit of news. Not that she really cared if everyone knew, but she didn't want John to expose her by saying something that would contradict Teyla's story. This was why she hated lying.

After their meal, Teyla contented herself with knitting and Camille read by the fire while John and Jerad played a game similar to horseshoes outside.

oOo

It was only about eight o'clock in the morning when people started showing up at their house to offer their congratulations.

"I may have mentioned it to Camille last night before you came." Teyla said guiltily, though she knew that John wouldn't be mad.

"So that's what you were up – wait, last night?" Teyla nodded. "Geez. The gossip mill here is worse than it was on Atlantis."

A/N: Just a quick chappie. Tell me if you like and I'll rack my brains for the next part. I've got the ending all worked out, I just have to get the characters there.


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